Last Updated on December 4, 2024 by Kiersten
These sourdough Amish apple butter rolls are a cozy morning favorite. Includes recipe for the best homemade cream cheese icing.
These comforting breakfast rolls use the same dough as my regular sourdough cinnamon rolls but use homemade Amish apple butter as the filling instead.
I had a huge excess of apple butter this week because I had made a giant batch for upcoming holiday gifts and barbecue sauce.
My brain was rolling through new ways to use it up and I decided to swap out the usual brown sugar, butter, cinnamon filling for the apple butter. My, oh my! They came out beautifully and the whole house smelled like Christmas morning for several hours after.
I still have some apple butter left that I have been spreading across freshly toasted sourdough English muffins. It really has been a great week for bellies here. :o)
Dough Timeline
To give a timeline, I had fed my sourdough starter earlier in the day around 10:30am so it was active and ready to get to work come come dinner time.
Around 7pm, I mixed the dough ingredients together and allowed it to bulk ferment until about 11am the next morning. My kitchen is usually around 66-68 degrees F this time of year and it seemed to be just the right amount of hours to rise.
Sourdough Amish Apple Butter Rolls Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup sourdough starter (active and recently fed)
- 1/4 cup melted salted butter
- 3 cups all purpose flour, unbleached
- Avocado, olive, or coconut oil for greasing
- 1 cup Amish apple butter
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Homemade Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 stick butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
Mix together the melted butter, maple syrup, active sourdough starter and milk in a medium sized bowl until well combined.
Slowly stir in the flour until the dough forms a ball around the spoon and no dry bits of flour are left.
Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and soft.
Form the dough into a ball and place it into a well oiled bowl to rise for the next 12 hours. Cover with plastic wrap or a tight fitting lid to prevent a crust from forming on the dough.
After bulk fermentation, it’s time to roll, fill, and cut the sourdough Amish apple butter rolls. Flour a surface and gently roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 9×13″ and 1/2″ thick.
Spread an even but hearty layer of apple butter on the dough leaving a border of about 1-2″ around the edges.
Roll the dough into a log by taking the long side and rolling it towards you, tucking the edges in as you go.
Place the dough log seam side down and cut the log into 1.5″ pieces with a very sharp knife, pizza cutter, or dough scraper.
Grease the bottom of a 12″ cast iron pan or your preferred baking dish and place the rolls 2″ apart.
Place the pan or dish in a warm place, cover with a dampened dish towel and let the rolls rise for a second time until they’re nice and puffy. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this can take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F. Brush the tops of the sourdough Amish apple butter rolls with a layer of heavy cream.
Bake for 20 minutes and allow to cool a bit in the pan or dish. Serve plain as-is or topped with a nice layer of the BEST homemade cream cheese icing found below.
The Best Homemade Cream Cheese Icing
- Whisk the cream cheese and butter together in a small bowl with a whisk attachment on a hand mixer, stand mixer, or with a manual whisk.
- Stir in the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Whisk again for another minute until fluffy and smooth.
Storing and Reheating Sourdough Amish Apple Butter Rolls
Store any extra rolls in the refrigerator on a dish wrapped in plastic, or air tight container. They will easily last 3-4 days this way without going stale. To reheat, bake rolls in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes.
Sourdough Amish Apple Butter Rolls
These sourdough Amish apple butter rolls are a cozy morning favorite. Includes recipes for traditional icing and cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup sourdough starter (active and recently fed)
- 1/4 cup melted salted butter
- 3 cups all purpose flour, unbleached
- Avocado, olive, or coconut oil for greasing
- 1 cup Amish apple butter
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Homemade Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 stick butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix together the melted butter, maple syrup. active sourdough starter and milk in a medium sized bowl until well combined.
- Slowly stir in the flour until the dough forms a ball around the spoon and no dry bits of flour are left.
- Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and soft.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it into a well oiled bowl to rise for the next 12 hours. Cover with plastic wrap or a tight fitting lid to prevent a crust from forming on the dough.
- After bulk fermentation, it's time to roll, fill, and cut the sourdough Amish apple butter rolls. Flour a surface and gently roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 9x13" and 1/2" thick.
- Spread an even but hearty layer of apple butter on the dough leaving a border of about 1-2" around the edges.
- Roll the dough into a log by taking the long side and rolling it towards you, tucking the edges in as you go.
- Place the dough log seam side down and cut the log into 1.5" pieces with a very sharp knife, pizza cutter, or dough scraper.
- Grease the bottom of a 12" cast iron pan or your preferred baking dish and place the rolls 2" apart.
- Place the pan or dish in a warm place, cover with a dampened dish towel and let the rolls rise for a second time until they're nice and puffy. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this can take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F. Brush the tops of the rolls with a layer of heavy cream then bake for 20 minutes. Allow the rolls to cool in the pan a bit before serving.
- Serve plain as-is or topped with a nice layer of homemade cream cheese icing. (recipe in notes below)
- To reheat, place in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes.
Notes
Homemade Cream Cheese Icing
- Whisk the cream cheese and butter together in a small bowl with a whisk attachment on a hand mixer, stand mixer, or with a manual whisk.
- Stir in the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Whisk again for another minute until fluffy and smooth.
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